Are you picking up or dropping off?

May 29, 2017

Madison Square Park in the rain

Lego City

Guggenhein

Today was forecast to rain - and it did. We arose before the alarm again and could see raindrops falling on the nearby roof. The weather radar showed heavier rain north west and south east of the city, but we decided on some inside options for the day.

Breakfast as usual and we headed out and east at about 10:30. We decided that we could do without rain jackets for a while as the rain was very light and we darted from cover to cover. We made our way to Madison Garden Park which was very green, beautiful trees, squirrels, and statues and fountains. A pleasant oasis in a busy city. Thee were also views of spectacular skyscrapers peeping through the trees.

We spied a Lego shop and had to have a look. There were many detailed and large historical picture panels plus 3D models including a city much like NY. It was clearly a tourist attraction as there were many people there taking photos. We walked around the nearby streets looking for Eataly - an Italian Food extravaganza that Tom told us about. After a few blocks walking, we eventually found it next to the Lego shop!

Well Tom hadn't done it justice! It had everything Italian - meats, fish, fruit, vegetables, deli, coffee, vegetables, pasta, chocolate, bread, wine, cheese, and a lot more besides. With all the smells we had to have some lunch here - opting for beautiful bread rolls with cheese, vegetables, meat, etc. C had a hot chocolate ( so thick she needed to spoon it out of the cup) and J had coffee. It was a great place to visit - it is so close we might even come back for more food!

Next up was a train ride up to 86th st, and a few blocks walking to the Guggenheim Museum. It is an unusual and futuristic building specifically designed by Frank Lloyd Wright to house Guggenheims collection. It was built in the 1940's. Of course thee was a queue into the street, but it was moving quickly and we soon got tickets. The main gallery is a a sort of spiral so we caught the lift to the top and then walked down the spiral. The gallery is full of the modern art names you would expect - Chagall, Picasso, Kandinsky, Manet, Monet, Degas, Miro, Gaugin, Renoir, and Van Gogh, plus numerous others. Whilst we didn't like all the works of course, but it was well worth the visit. Quite a large number of people there - lots of different languages, arty- farty types, students, locals, and simple tourists like us. The building itself was a piece of art, and it only fell down in the toilet ( I mean bathroom) department.

There were some single unisex toilets hidden away here and there, but nowhere near enough for the numbers of visitors. ( we found the toilets at the Met somewhat deficient in the number department as well). So there were little queues here and there. J and C were in a "bathroom" queue near the entrance to the cloakroom. People kept lining up behind her, and she would say " this is the bathroom queue, that's the cloakroom queue over there". This went on for about 20 minutes; one man stopping and saying "are you picking up or dropping off". J was very tempted to make a somewhat vulgar reply but contained himself!

By now feet and backs were getting tired. J decided that there would be less walking if we walked across Central Park; that way we could get 2 trains to the end of our street. So off we headed. Every minute or so we came to a junction, and a decision needed to be made. Also, occasionally a small sign map would show "you are here". Unfortunately J ignored them and we soon found ourselves back on 5th avenue about half a km south of where we started. C was not amused.

So another walk to the station at Lexington and 77th st - guess what, still no downtown trains! So across the road and onto an uptown train for 1 stop. And what did we find in the downtown area? barrier tape across the platform. C started mouthing "Square words", but then noticed people going down another level. Here we got a train that took us all the way (slowly) to 28th st where we walked to the hotel.